Nirvana by numbers

Kim Plofker, assistant professor of mathematics, was recently interviewed as part of a BBC Radio 4 program, “Nirvana by the Numbers” that examined Indian numerals.

In 2009, Plofker published Mathematics in India (Princeton University Press). The book draws on Plofker's work in India and elsewhere with Sanskrit, Arabic and Persian manuscripts in the mathematical sciences, surveying the development of Indian mathematical traditions from antiquity through the early modern period.